The 79th edition of the US Women’s Open, the longest-running major women’s golf championship, begins Thursday at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The main championship has a purse of $12 million and Ally came on board as a presenting sponsor for the main championship earlier this year. Here’s a closer look at five things you need to know about the second major championship of the season.
Field
The US Women’s Open features a field of 156 players showing a who’s who of players who have already lifted a major trophy. Two-time Grand Slam champion and current No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Nelly Korda leads the field in search of her seventh victory of the 2024 season. She is joined in Lancaster by major champions Celine Boutier, Ashleigh Buhai, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko and Hannah Green, just to name a few. Green is the only other multiple winner this season on the LPGA Tour, earning two wins at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. Eight previous US Women’s Open champions will also participate, including Brittany Lang, Ariya Jutanugarn, Jeongeun Lee6, A Lim Kim, Yuka Saso, Minjee Lee, Allisen Corpuz and In Gee Chun, who was the winner the last time the championship was held. was held at Lancaster Country Club in 2015. Chun’s victory was her first on the LPGA Tour and since that victory, she has maintained a relationship with the Lancaster community by establishing an educational foundation in partnership with the club that helps provide scholarships to local residents. families.
Qualification
There were 1,897 entries received for this year’s US Women’s Open, just over a hundred fewer than the record of more than 2,000 entries submitted last year, and the championship was held for the first time at Pebble Beach Golf Links. In the end, just over 60 players advanced from 26 qualifying sites, having survived a 36-hole challenge to earn a coveted spot on the Lancaster Country Club course alongside those previously exempt. Among the notable qualifiers for this year’s U.S. Women’s Open is Gabi Ruffels, who finished as the medalist at her qualifying site to earn a spot in the field for her fifth U.S. Women’s Open. The rookie has been in good form lately and comes to Pennsylvania after consecutive top-three finishes on the LPGA Tour. Other notable qualifiers include Moriya Jutanugarn, Sydnee Michaels, Caroline Masson and Lucy Li, who first competed in the US Women’s Open at the age of 11.
The course
Lancaster Country Club is a hidden gem among the list of major championship venues, and as of Thursday, it is hosting the U.S. Women’s Open for the second time. The course, which hosted the championship in 2015, will challenge players with a complete test of golf. William Flynn’s design features a variety of par 4s, distinct par 3s, and just two par 5s. This second-shot golf course will play to 6,583 yards for the championship, exactly 100 yards longer than in 2015, and a par 70. The biggest change from 2015 can be seen on the par 5 13th hole, which was lengthened. by 30 yards and has seen the addition of four new bunkers.
Corpuz defends
Allisen Corpuz not only became a first-time Rolex winner but also a major champion with her big win at the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in 2023. Corpuz closed at 3 under par for the round final, 69 to win by three strokes. in the first women’s major to be held at Pebble Beach. Corpuz, who became the first American to win the national championship since Brittany Lang in 2016, took home $2 million for her victory along with the Mickey Wright Medal and the Horton S. Semple Trophy. But ever since Corpuz earned her first victory at the US Women’s Open, she has struggled to recapture the magic that propelled her to her greatest glory. After her win, she finished second in her next start and tied for sixth in the final major of the 2023 season, the AIG Women’s Open. This year, Corpuz has recorded just one top-10 finish, a tie for eighth that came at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Korda chasing Major No. 3
Nelly Korda enters the second major championship of the season looking for not only her seventh win of the year, but also the third major win of her career. Korda notched her fifth consecutive victory of the season at the year’s first major, the Chevron Championship, and she will be riding the momentum of a sixth victory in her final start at the Mizuho Americas Open. At a major venue like Lancaster Country Club, which prioritizes fairways and greens, Korda will be hard to beat as she leads the Tour in greens in regulation, putts per green in regulation and scoring average. Korda is competing in her 10th US Women’s Open and has two top-10 finishes in the event. She did not compete at Lancaster in 2015.
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